


He Refuses to Bend, He Refuses to Crawl, He’s Always at Home With his Back to the Wall

by GothamOracle



Series: Piano Man [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Arguments, Coruscant (Star Wars), F/M, Poe isn't good at politics, Politics, Rebuilding, louder voice diplomacy, mention of pairing character, mentions of Connix, very minimal pairing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:40:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23720989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothamOracle/pseuds/GothamOracle
Summary: With the First Order defeated, the galaxy is in need of rebuilding and direction. At a gathering of galactic representatives on Coruscant, General Poe Dameron learns the hard way that sometimes Louder Voice Diplomacy is the only way to handle the delicate game that is politics. Especially when the fate of the galaxy is at stake.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Rey
Series: Piano Man [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1708480
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26





	He Refuses to Bend, He Refuses to Crawl, He’s Always at Home With his Back to the Wall

**Author's Note:**

> Good afternoon everyone! Welcome to the prequel to Sad and it's Sweet. People seemed interested in hearing about the summit so here it is!!!
> 
> Thanks again to my fantastic beta reader Damerey_knows, Edenofalltrades who I bounced ideas off of and everyone who was excited to read this! I would love to hear your thoughts on the fic.
> 
> And now, without further ado, here we go!

When he was twelve, Poe Dameron had asked - nay, begged - his father for the chance to visit the planet Coruscant. When his father asked him why his son had wanted to go to Coruscant of all places, Poe had revealed he wanted to see the city. Growing up on a farm, Poe had always known that he didn't want to stay there. He wanted to fly, wanted to see the galaxy, be like his mom. Later in his life he will want to join the New Republic Defense Force and make a difference (after a two-year pit stop on Kijimi). But at the age of twelve, Poe Dameron wanted to see the big city.  
  
The trip had been his birthday present that year and the planet hadn't disappointed. Poe had been fascinated by the tall buildings, the number of people and mix of cultures that Coruscant had to offer. It was like nothing the boy had ever seen before. When they'd gotten back home, Kes Dameron had turned to his son and asked for his assessment of the trip. Poe said that one day he wanted to go back.  
  
Today, General Poe Dameron, Leader of the Resistance, was regretting the words of his younger self. He would do just about anything to be anywhere _but_ Coruscant right now. Whatever he’d seen in the planet as a child was long gone now that he sat here as an adult. This conference room was more uncomfortable than the times he’d walked in on Snap and Karé when the two men had been sharing quarters.  
  
Snap... His friend was part of the reason all of them were still here to be part of this conference. Karé had shoved a photo of the squad into his hand before he left base. Of the seven in the photo three of them hadn’t made it to see this. L’ulo. Oddy. Snap. His three friends and so many other good people had given their lives so that the Galaxy could be free. All those who lived were determined that these sacrifices would not be for nothing. But Force, did Poe wish there was a better way to do it than this.  
  
Not for the first time in the last few days, Poe wished that he’d pushed harder to go with Rey to Tatooine or that he’d ordered Connix to come here in his place, even though he knew she couldn’t. His dress uniform was almost as stiff and uncomfortable as the smiles on the faces of the planetary governmental representatives that sat around the table. The last five days had been a slew of meetings, alliance building and cocktail parties where his and his aides’ (more like bodyguards’) drinks had wound up being spilled into nearby planters. He refused to be off his game in this environment.  
  
At first, Poe had tried to be charming. He’d thought about what Leia would do, but it hadn’t ended well. Every meeting, every discussion, every representative had the same questions for him and his people. It had become very obvious very quickly that they were expecting the Resistance and him specifically, to have all the answers. And he didn’t. This wasn’t something he could fix with his charm, or by flying, or blowing up a target.  
  
The amount of people who wanted something from him had finally made him understand why Connix had insisted he travel with a detail. It meant that he didn’t have to worry about his physical safety in the middle of this political drama, just the crushing expectations that were being foisted upon him and the Resistance with every conversation.  
  
And yet, unless he had answers, they didn’t seem to want to listen. They had all these questions, all these demands. Every planet had things they wanted and needed, few of which matched up perfectly with the rest of those gathered. They were here to discuss a new form of galactic government. The New Republic had failed. Poe knew that they had to learn from the mistakes of the past, otherwise they would be doomed to repeat it. However, as he sat there on the sixth day listening to the representatives from Naboo and Chandrila picking at one another, his head hurt.  
  
Poe kept telling himself to stay calm, to not do anything rash. He tried to ask himself what Leia would do, but the pettiness that was flying across the table was getting to be too much. After half an hour of the same representatives going at each other with the same inane arguments and making absolutely no progress, Poe couldn't stay quiet any longer.  
  
"Will both of you shut up?!" he snapped, his face openly showed the frustration he was feeling.  
  
Both representatives' eyes, and those gathered around the table, were instantly on Poe. He couldn't even care that he'd probably just pissed off people who spoke for two of the more powerful planets. There was silence around the table as they all stared at him in shock.  
  
"Do you hear yourselves? These are things that happened years ago and look where we are now! Do either of you have any memory of it?" He paused, waiting for an answer but neither gave one.  
  
"Why are we rehashing this?” he demanded.  
  
Again, neither spoke.  
  
"Every one of your planets has enough dirt on the others to argue forever. We don't have time for this. The longer we take figuring this out, the longer it will take to rebuild. The longer the people live in limbo the less we will be able to build a firm foundation and the more likely it is that we will have another war on our hands.”  
  
Poe pushed himself up from the table, looking around the gathered.  
  
“For the last five days, I’ve sat here, played nice, shook hands, and smiled. I've listened to everything you’ve all been saying and I understand you're still uneasy. It's been less than two months since the First Order fell. The cells that are left are still being rooted out. You worry they could come back the way the Empire did."  
  
There was a murmur of agreement and Poe figured, in spite of the looks on the faces of several of his aides, he was in too deep now to stop. Poe didn’t have any of this prepared, he was just... done. Either they would accomplish something or this entire exercise would be a _complete_ waste of time and resources that they didn’t have!  
  
"I don't have any assurances for you about the First Order. There are no assurances of anything right now. Over the last few days I’ve heard that some of you want the Resistance to disband, some of you want us to stay and act as a peacekeeping force. Some of you are worried that we’ll turn on you and take over ourselves.” There was a murmur of shock, but Poe knew that more than one person had said it. Power of any kind made people nervous, especially after what they’d just been through.  
  
“Let me be clear, that is the _last thing_ anyone in the Resistance wants. Personally, I’d like to go home. Maybe build a house. Spend some time with my dad and get a decent night’s sleep for the first time since I went off to the NRDF. But the Resistance fought and fought hard to make sure we still had a galaxy rebuild. And the Resistance isn't going to stand down until this is done. We’re also not going to make you promises that we can't keep. Broken promises are the first step to things falling apart. People get angry, start thinking that they can do it better and before you know it we have another Palpatine on our hands."  
  
There was a gasp from some of the representatives as Poe said the name aloud. Poe just rolled his eyes. He wanted to make a smart ass remark, but he could hear Leia’s voice in his head urging him to temper that impulse. He looked around the gathered representatives again, stopping at the back where one of his guys was standing. Poe was not going to be able to sit through any more of this today. It might lose him... what had Connix called it? Political capital, but he needed to get out of here.  
  
“Whatever this is,” he indicated the people around the conference table, “whatever this becomes, we have one shot to get it right. The New Republic tried; but it failed because people were too interested in the politics and not the people they serve. And because it failed the First Order gained a foothold.”  
  
Poe paused there, leaning against the table he looked down at his hands. Taking a breath, he looked back up at those gathered, his body language and voice growing louder and more impassioned as he continued.  
  
“I was born during the last war. I fought in this one. I don't want my kids having to fight the _next one_ because instead of figuring out a new galactic government, we were too busy arguing about who was on the losing side of an agricultural dispute from three hundred years ago!”  
  
A flurry of voices began shouting as he finished speaking, but Poe didn’t care. He didn’t care if he’d just pissed off everyone in the room. There’d been a weight on his chest for the last five days as he’d dealt with everyone’s expectations and need for answers from him; answers that he didn’t have. This had been Leia’s forte, not his. He wasn’t a politician. He was a wartime general who had been thrown into this because _this_ was now his job. Connix had said that politics was a delicate battle, but Poe didn’t do delicate battles. He got into his X-wing and blew shit up. And from the reactions, he’d done that here too. Tomorrow, once the adrenaline had worn off and the eyes of everyone were on him again, the weight on his chest that made it difficult to breathe would be back. But for tonight, he just didn’t care.  
  
The voices kept going. He couldn’t even hear what they were saying over the anger buzzing in his ears and he finally threw his hands up.  
  
“We can’t move forward by constantly looking back! We don’t forget, we learn from the past, but we can’t be so heavily shackled to it that it keeps us from moving forward!”  
  
There were more yells at that statement and Poe finally had enough of this. Nothing else was going to get done tonight and Poe would not be going to the nightly reception. He wanted to go back to the rooms that Connix had booked for him and his people and have an actual drink in peace.  
  
Over the din of voices, Poe raised his again and called out, “I move that this session of the summit be called to recess!” the same words that had been used to end the official proceedings the previous days. He was almost surprised to hear the representative from Coruscant yell “Seconded,” over the cacophony.  
  
The arbiter’s gavel came down with a bang, signaling that the summit was over for the day. The sound caused everyone in the room to go quiet as they tried to figure out what they had just missed. But Poe was already at the door to the meeting room with his aides behind him.  
  
Poe pushed the door open, looking at the assembled planetary representatives over his shoulder one last time before he exited. "Try acting more like the future of this galaxy and less like bickering children. Think about it."  
  
As the door shut behind him and he started for his hotel room, Poe was certain of only one thing: Connix was going to kill him.


End file.
